mercy

a prerogative power exercised by the Home Secretary to allow a sentence to be commuted, remitted or suspended.

MERCY, Practice. To be in mercy, signifies to be liable to punishment at the
discretion of the judge.

MERCY, crim. law. The total or partial remission of a punishment to which a
convict is subject. When the whole punishment is remitted, it is called a
pardon; (q.v.) when only a part of the punishment is remitted, it is
frequently a conditional pardon; or before sentence, it is called clemency
or mercy. Vide Rutherf. Inst. 224; 1 Kent, Com. 265; 3 Story, Const. Sec.
1488.

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